They broke Venezuela with sanctions for 20 years before what they did to them this month. They’ve broken Iran’s economy with sanctions similarly, including the snapback sanctions recently reimposed by allies. The currency crisis that initiated the recent Iranian turmoil was precipitated by outside manipulation. Their main strategy is to break and divide targets from the outside before taking any action that risks their own assets. The trade war against Canada is part of the same kind of technique, as is support for Alberta secessionist movements, and for Maple MAGA more broadly. These are applications of the technique, but they have the capacity to escalate much more dramatically in extending that approach.

Also, you’re misinterpreting what I’m saying about Americans opposing fascism. I’m not saying Canadians should align with the Democrats. They are useless. The people who Canadians should support are the Americans actually going to the streets, organizing, and hopefully building towards real domestic resistance at scale, whether that be armed or peaceful. If they are squashed domestically, the US will be able to direct more resources outwardly. Also, should it come to direct conflict with the US, we should treat those people resisting fascism domestically down south as assets to support. The US already is doing this to us by treating Canadians sympathetic to MAGA and fascism as assets in undermining Canada.

I appreciate the “we’ve done it before, we’ll do it again, so FAFO” spirit, and I’m not disagreeing about being ready for physical invasion, but it’s not 1812 anymore. We don’t have the British Empire at our back, and war has evolved dramatically since then. Preparing in 2026 means preparing for something much more comprehensive and much more challenging than 1812.